Spatial Variation in the Risk of Home Owning

To casual observers, home owning often appears risky. They note that the typical preretirement household (in the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances) has about 45 percent of its net worth tied up in housing wealth - and those house values can be volatile. In fact, between the end of 2005 and the end of 2007, real house prices fell by more than 15 percent, according to the 10-city composite S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Even expert analysts of housing markets typically concern themselves with the risk of house price declines. Indeed, chapters 2 and 3 in this volume address ways to mitigate the asset price risk of housing through the use of house price derivatives or home equity insurance.